


Ambrosia (love returned)

by S_Horne



Series: August in Bloom [13]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century, Tony Stark is Good with Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-23 04:43:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20236939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/pseuds/S_Horne
Summary: There was a tense silence as Steve focused his eyes onto what Tony knew was the last text that Steve had sent to Tony a few hours before.Capsicle [10.54pm]: Get some sleep, Tony. I’ll see you tomorrow xx“Kisses?” Tony’s voice was far too loud for the late hour, but he figured that his houseguests were more than used to strange noises when living in the Avengers Tower. He had no desire to tone down the pitch of his questioning, even when Steve’s gaze shot back to his instead of staying focused on the blindingly-bright cell screen.Words poured from Tony’s mouth. He wasn’t thinking too hard about what he was saying, his mind a little frantic at the over-analysis it had been thinking over for hours. “What do kisses mean? Were they an accident, or are they friendly kisses? You’ve never sent me kisses before. Are friendly kisses a thing that we do now?”





	Ambrosia (love returned)

_Don’t over-analyse it, don’t over-analyse it, _Tony chanted to himself.

He’d kept up the mantra for ages and yet it hadn’t seemed to help. Though he wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been repeating the simple phrase, he’d had to tap the screen of his phone several times when it kept going dark and threatening to clear the message from Tony’s view.

It was sort of ironic, really, that the message telling him to go to sleep had kept him up past even his usual bedtime and would no doubt serve to keep him awake into the small hours of the next week.

Before he really knew what was happening, Tony had managed to make his way up from his workshop until his hand was poised to knock on Steve’s front door. A few minutes of incessant banging later and Steve was suddenly standing there, sleep-rumbled and yawning and looking far too attractive for Tony to deal with.

“Tony?” Steve asked, rubbing at his face and squinting in confusion. His hair was an adorable mess and his shirt was caught up under his armpit and Tony adored him. “What’s happening? Are you okay? Is everyone alright; Tash, Rhodey?”

“What does this mean?” Tony thrust his phone in Steve’s face, totally ignoring the worried words falling from Steve’s lips. When the phone was turned his way, Steve reared back at the bright light and raised a hand to shield his eyes.

“Tony, stop, _fuck__._” Steve turned his head sharply and screwed his eyes shut. “What’s wrong? I can’t see that – it’s 2am.”

“What?” Tony twisted his phone around to check the time – and grimaced himself at the brightness of it himself – before he winced a little. “Whoops. That’s my bad, didn’t realise. But,” he barrelled on, spinning the phone back around, “I want to know what this means.”

There was a tense silence as Steve focused his eyes onto what Tony knew was the last text that Steve had sent to Tony a few hours before.

_Capsicle [10.54pm]: Get some sleep, Tony. I’ll see you tomorrow xx_

“Kisses?” Tony’s voice was far too loud for the late hour, but he figured that his houseguests were more than used to strange noises when living in the Avengers Tower. He had no desire to tone down the pitch of his questioning, even when Steve’s gaze shot back to his instead of staying focused on the blindingly-bright cell screen.

Words poured from Tony’s mouth. He wasn’t thinking too hard about what he was saying, his mind a little frantic at the over-analysis it had been thinking over for hours. “What do kisses mean? Were they an accident, or are they friendly kisses? You’ve never sent me kisses before. Are friendly kisses a thing that we do now?”

Tony and Steve had had a strange friendship over the years. From almost hating each other on sight to fighting a battle together within hours of meeting, they’d literally gone from one extreme to the other.

Over the months that had followed, filled with zero direct communication between them and more thoughts about the other man that Tony would ever freely admit to, Steve had put up the most resistance to moving into Tony’s newly-designed Avengers Tower. The rest of the team had moved in quickly and they’d settled into a surprisingly easy routine. Tony had nearly fallen over in shock when he had entered the communal floor late one night after an inventing binge to see Steve stood there with a duffel over his shoulders, soaked clothes dripping down onto the carpet under his feet, a sheepish smile, and a bag of doughnuts.

From then on, Steve had decided to throw himself wholeheartedly into the Avengers initiative for reasons still undiscovered to Tony. But whatever had caused the change of heart had Tony’s unwavering gratitude. As soon as that commitment had been made, Tony had watched Steve become a new man. Gone was the stick up his ass and even Tony felt himself relaxing into a nicer version of himself with the change in his teammate. Neither of them needed a front around the other after too long and Tony found that he wanted to spend time with the Captain of his team. Willingly. Without being forced into it by Rhodey or Pepper.

It was a new feeling.

Tony wasn’t sure when it had gone from an easy friendship to him being unable to get through the day without talking to Steve, or when Steve had started being the one that Tony sought out after a nightmare, but he couldn’t say he was disappointed with the turn of events.

Steve was a good soul through and through, and Tony loved him.

Unfortunately, that love had never even been hinted at as being reciprocated and Tony had made peace with that depressing thought. Until that evening.

When Steve sent him _kisses _on the end of his nightly text message and Tony had spiralled. All the King’s men could not have stopped him from reading very deeply into it; apparently wasting over 3 hours analysing every possible meaning and not allowing himself to sleep because he needed to know what it meant.

“They’re just kisses,” Steve said finally, voice low. “I didn’t – I mean… they’re just kisses.”

And no. Tony wasn’t about to let that slide. There was no way that Steve ‘Captain America’ Rogers had suddenly decided to change his texting style for absolutely no reason at all and Tony wasn’t going to just drop it.

“No,” he said forcefully, taking a step forward. He ignored the wild beating of his heart as he decided to be brave and show his feelings for once. “You don’t get to do that. You, Steve Rogers, do not send kisses ever, let alone for no reason to _me_ of all people, so you can’t just brush this off. Not with me. _Never_ with me.”

There was a long pause. Tony’s heart sunk to his toes. He’d thought that he’d read something right for once, when all he had actually done was overthink things to the point of ruining one of his best friendships.

Just as Tony opened his mouth to mumble an apology, – or maybe break down and cry, he hadn’t quite decided – Steve surged forward and caught Tony’s lips in a passionate kiss. His arms wound around Tony’s waist to pull him closer and closer as his tongue swept over Tony’s bottom lip to gain entrance. Tony gave permission willingly, his hand flying up to clutch Steve’s shoulder, eyes fluttering shut in surrender.

“Kisses,” Steve said when they broke apart, voice ragged and chest heaving. “That’s what I meant. That’s what I thought about doing to you when I sent those.”

“Huh.” Tony stepped back and swiped his thumb across his dark cell screen, bringing it back to life and staring down intently. He felt like he’d just run a marathon, as though he’d climbed to the highest mountain, or taken down an entire army single-handedly. He was on the top of the world and his heart was threatening to burst with the love he felt. After a moment, he looked up at Steve and bit his lip, eyes sparkling mischievously. “Only two?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm 12 minutes late - ugh, sorry! (Have I mentioned that I love you all? Cause I do)


End file.
